The VMware vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller appliance can be deployed on ESXi hosts 5.5 or later, or on vCenter Server instances 5.5 or later.

You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance by using the GUI or CLI installer. You run the installer from a network client machine that you use to connect to the target server and deploy the appliance on the server. You can connect directly to an ESXi 5.5.x or 6.x host on which to deploy the appliance. You can also connect to a vCenter Server 5.5.x or 6.x instance to deploy the appliance on an ESXi host or DRS cluster that resides in the vCenter Server inventory.